A unique column lift has been carried out in Tobolsk-Polymer site

(Sibur) -- A column for the separation of propane-propylene fraction with a height of 96 meters and weight of 1095 tons was installed in Tobolsk-Polymer site.

"The column is the heart of the propane dehydrogenation plant," said Dmitry Fomin, the director of capital construction at Tobolsk-Polymer.

According to Alfredo Errico, the engineer from the contractor Tecnimont (Italy), assembling the almost 100-meter column was a unique operation. The installation of the column lasted 6 hours. Despite the weather, the operation went ahead without problems.

Sibur project "Tobolsk-Polymer" - a planned complex for polypropylene production with a capacity of 500 thousand tons per year. Completion of the construction of the propylene installation is scheduled for the second half of 2012.

The project will significantly increase processing of associated gas, which will have a positive impact on the ecological situation in the region. Furthermore, according to various estimates, up to one million tons of polypropylene - the plastic with the third highest consumption in the world after polyethylene and PVC - is imported into Russia in the form of finished products. The new production will meet the continually increasing demand for polypropylene and for the finished products manufactured from it.

MRC

(ICIS)--Petronas Chemicals Group (PCG) shares debuted strongly on the Malaysian stock exchange on Friday, with price jumping by as much as 10% from its initial public offering (IPO) price, underscoring the strong appetite for Asian big-capital stocks.

PCG's $4.1bn (┬3.1bn) IPO was the biggest to come out of Malaysia and out of southeast Asia to date, beating the $3.3bn offering of telecommunications firm Maxis, according to media reports.

PCG set its IPO price to institutional investors, which took up 88% of its IPO of 2.48bn shares, at M$5.20/share, while retail offerings of 293m shares were priced at a 3% discount to the set price.

The trading debutante comprises the 22 petrochemical-related businesses of state oil and gas firm Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas).

Its operations cover olefins, polymers, fertilizers, methanol and other basic chemical and derivative products. Based on volumes, the company is the biggest producer of methanol and ethylene glycols in southeast Asia, according to its website.

The company's IPO proceeds would be used for future expansion, which would include greenfield ammonia and urea projects off east Malaysia.

MRC

Despite own PE production capacities, the Russian market 70% still depends on the shipment from external suppliers. The main reason is limited grade assortment from the Russian producers.

The main mover of growing demand for linear polyethylene are stretch film producers, in particular, cast film. Market leaders firmly maintain their positions: Regent-stretch, Lava, Nova roll and Ecotek. Nevertheless, over last two years in Russia a few more cast stretch film productions were launched.

Among them we should mention industrial park Kamskie Polyani, whose production facilities allow to produce up to 15 KT p.a. of reinforced stretch film.

MRC

(Bloomberg Business Week) -- Mossi & Ghisolfi International SA, an Italian chemicals company that skipped coupons on perpetual bonds issued before the credit crunch, now wants to repurchase the debt at a 55 percent discount.

M&G will pay 45 cents on the euro for its 200 million euros ($266 million) of subordinated 7.5 percent notes, which were quoted at about 12 cents before the Nov. 22 buyback started, according to the offer document. The company is still paying a ⌠significant premium to the market price, said Lorenzo Montagna, M&G's director of corporate strategy in Milan.

M&G is the world's largest producer of polyethylene terephthalate for packaging and employs more than 3,000 staff.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- South Korea's industrial film maker SKC Ltd., has completed a polyurethane (PU) plant in a special economic zone in southwestern Poland. This is SKC's third overseas polyurethane plant.

Earlier this year, in May, SKC completed its polyurethane plant in Georgia, the United States. The plant, completed after seven months of construction, is to produce 20,000 tpa of polyurethane, mainly to South Korean manufacturers of automotive parts and European and Russian home appliance makers.

SKC plans to build three additional polyurethane plants by 2013 in India and Southeast Asia with the aim of increasing its production capacity of polyurethane to 100,000 tpa.

MRC